Bio

Andrew Smye is a metamorphic geologist whose research bridges fundamental and applied Earth science. He has expertise in metamorphic petrology, using petrochronology to study the thermal evolution of mountain belts and subduction zones, the rates of metamorphic heat and mass transfer, and how tectonic processes shape the composition and physical properties of continental crust. Building on this foundation, his current work focuses on fluid–rock interactions, exploring how these processes control the mobility of critical elements, the evolution of permeability in basement rocks, and applications to societal challenges such as in-situ mining.

Andy has degrees from the Universities of Oxford (MESc; graduated 2007) and Cambridge (PhD; 2012), and held post-doctoral fellowships at the British Geological Survey, the University of Texas (Austin) and the University of Oxford before joining Penn State in 2016.

Research

• Field-based investigations apply metamorphic petrology, petrochronology, structural geology and physical models to address:
  • formation and evolution of lower continental crust (Variscan granulite terrains, Basin & Range xenoliths)
  • thermal and rheological evolution of subduction interfaces (Sanbagawa, European Alps, Cyclades)
• Theoretical calculations are applied to:
  • volatile element cycling at subuction zones
  • thermal models of mountain belts
  • element mobility during fluid-rock interaction
• Method development is focused on :
  • derivation of deep crustal thermal histories from high-temperature metamorphic rocks (rutile, titanite, zircon U-Pb; diffusion speedometry)
  • inversion of mineral zoning for rates and durations of fluid-rock interaction
  • physical properties of metamorphic rocks in the lower crust and on subduction interfaces

People

Graduate students

Laura Kelsall (PhD 2025 -) Mobility of heat-producing elements during crustal melting
Evan Jakovac (MS 2025 -) PT-stress evolution of the Sanbagawa terrain
Leonie Strobl (PhD 2025) Eclogite-facies fluid-rock interaction (Tauern Windon, Eastern Alps)
Charlotte Connop (PhD 2024; now Assistant Prof. at Bates College) Differentiation of Continental Crust: insights from the Variscan Orogeny and the Global Array of Terrigenous Sediments
Khalil Droubi (Research intern 2023; now PhD student at U Wisconsin) Xenolith petrochronology (San Luis Potosi, Mexico) constrains heat sources for Cenozoic ultrahigh‐temperature metamorphism in the lower crust
Jake Cipar (PhD 2022; now software engineer at RunPod) Thermal Evolution of the Rio Grande Rift and Basin and Range Lithosphere: A Petrochronologic Investigation
Hailey Forgeng (MS 2021; now geologist at New York State Survey) Fluid-Rock Interaction at Sub-Arc Conditions: A Petrological Investigation of an Eclogite-Facies Vein System, Eclogite Zone, Eastern Alps
Demaris Wyatt (MS 2019; now environmental scientist, Caltrans) Constraints from Monazite Petrochronology on the Assembly of the Ivrea-Verbano Zone

Post-doctoral researchers

Lindsey Abdale (2026- ; NSF postdoctoral fellow) How are sedimentary rocks incorporated into the lower continental crust? A petrochronological investigation of the Serre Massif, Calabria, Italy
Josh Garber (2019-2022; now Research Scientist at St Andrew's, Scotland) Element mobility during subduction; LionChron lab manager
Spencer Seman (2016-2018; Senior Research Scientist, McCrone Group) Rb-Sr petrochronology of eclogite-facies white mica

Extramural grants

• NSF: What controls the mobility of heat-producing elements in continental crust?
• NSF: A Geochemical Approach to Quantifying the Magnitude of Strain and Fluid Flow along the Subduction Interface
• NSF: Determining the rates and conditions of subduction initiation beneath the Samail Ophiolite
• NSF: CAREER Developing noble gases as a tracer of metamorphic dehydration
• NSF: How are ultrahigh temperatures attained in continental crust?
• NSF: How does lower continental crust form?
• NSF: ExTerra Field Institute and Research Endeavor (E-FIRE)

Publications

Genesis and refining of continental crust

• Smye, A.J. and Kelemen, P.B., 2025. Ultra-hot origins of stable continents. Nature Geoscience, pp.1-7.
• Droubi, O.K., Cipar, J.H., Smye, A.J. and Garber, J.M., 2024. Xenolith petrochronology (San Luis Potosi, Mexico) constrains heat sources for Cenozoic ultrahigh‐temperature metamorphism in the lower crust. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 129(8), p.e2024JB029138.
• Connop, C.H., Smye, A.J., Garber, J.M. and Mittal, T., 2024. Heat sources for Variscan high‐temperature–low‐pressure metamorphism: Petrochronological constraints from the Trois Seigneurs massif, French Pyrenees. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 42(6), pp.867-907.
• Cipar, J.H., Smye, A.J., Garber, J.M., Reimink, J.R. and Kylander‐Clark, A.R.C., 2024. Thinning and heating of Laramide continental lower crust recorded by zircon petrochronology. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 25(7), p.e2023GC011177.
• Reimink, J.R. and Smye, A.J., 2024. Subaerial weathering drove stabilization of continents. Nature, 629(8012), pp.609-615.
• Connop, C.H., Smye, A.J., Garber, J.M., Moser, A.C., Caddick, M.J. and Vervoort, J.D., 2024. Assembly of lower continental crust: A garnet Lu-Hf petrochronological investigation of the Ivrea-Verbano Zone, Italy. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 634, p.118677.
• Lamont, T.N., Smye, A.J., Roberts, N.M., Searle, M.P., Waters, D.J. and White, R.W., 2023. Constraints on the thermal evolution of metamorphic core complexes from the timing of high-pressure metamorphism on Naxos, Greece. Bulletin, 135(11-12), pp.2767-2796.
• Guevara, V.E., Smye, A.J., Caddick, M.J., Searle, M.P., Olsen, T., Whalen, L., Kylander-Clark, A.R., Jercinovic, M.J. and Waters, D.J., 2022. A modern pulse of ultrafast exhumation and diachronous crustal melting in the Nanga Parbat Massif. Science Advances, 8(31), p.eabm2689.
• Wyatt, D.C., Smye, A.J., Garber, J.M. and Hacker, B.R., 2022. Assembly and Tectonic Evolution of Continental Lower Crust: Monazite Petrochronology of the Ivrea‐Verbano Zone (Val Strona di Omegna). Tectonics, 41(3), p.e2021TC006841.
• Lamont, T.N., Searle, M.P., Waters, D.J., Roberts, N.M., Palin, R.M., Smye, A., Dyck, B., Gopon, P., Weller, O.M. and St-Onge, M.R., 2020. Compressional origin of the Naxos metamorphic core complex, Greece: Structure, petrography, and thermobarometry. Bulletin, 132(1-2), pp.149-197.
• Cipar, J.H., Garber, J.M., Kylander-Clark, A.R. and Smye, A.J., 2020. Active crustal differentiation beneath the Rio Grande Rift. Nature Geoscience, 13(11), pp.758-763.
• Smye, A.J., Lavier, L.L., Zack, T. and Stockli, D.F., 2019. Episodic heating of continental lower crust during extension: A thermal modeling investigation of the Ivrea-Verbano Zone. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 521, pp.158-168.
• McKenzie, N.R., Smye, A.J., Hegde, V.S. and Stockli, D.F., 2018. Continental growth histories revealed by detrital zircon trace elements: A case study from India. Geology, 46(3), pp.275-278.
• Bracciali, L., Parrish, R.R., Najman, Y., Smye, A., Carter, A. and Wijbrans, J.R., 2016. Plio-Pleistocene exhumation of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis and its domal ‘pop-up’. Earth-Science Reviews, 160, pp.350-385.
• Seymour, N.M., Stockli, D.F., Beltrando, M. and Smye, A.J., 2016. Tracing the thermal evolution of the Corsican lower crust during Tethyan rifting. Tectonics, 35(10), pp.2439-2466.
• Smye, A.J., Bickle, M.J., Holland, T.J., Parrish, R.R. and Condon, D.J., 2011. Rapid formation and exhumation of the youngest Alpine eclogites: a thermal conundrum to Barrovian metamorphism. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 306(3-4), pp.193-204.

Metamorphic processes associated with subduction

• Hooker, J.N., Luciano, S., Fisher, D.M., Smye, A.J., Hashimoto, Y., Hosokawa, T. and Elliott, S.J., 2025. Veining style and size-scaling behavior throughout the generation and exhumation of subduction mélange: Evidence from Japan and Alaska. Journal of Structural Geology, p.105607.
• Strobl, L.A., Elsworth, D., Fisher, D. and Smye, A.J., 2025. Constraints on the dehydration systematics of subducted oceanic crust across the blueschist‐to‐eclogite facies transition (Eclogite Zone, Eastern Alps). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26(10), p.e2025GC012280.
• Garber, J.M., Rioux, M., Smye, A.J., Cruz-Uribe, A.M., Baker, P.L., Vervoort, J.D., Searle, M.P. and Feineman, M.D., 2025. Shear heating during rapid subduction initiation beneath the Samail Ophiolite. Nature Geoscience, 18(7), pp.653-660.
• Chen, T.W., Affinito, R., Marone, C., Fisher, D., Smye, A. and Hashimoto, Y., 2024. Frictional properties and healing behavior of tectonic mélanges: Implications for the evolution of subduction fault zones. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 129(6), p.e2023JB028472.
• Chen, T.W., Smye, A., Lloyd, M., Fisher, D. and Hashimoto, Y., 2024. Temperatures of vein formation associated with plate interface deformation constrained by oxygen and clumped isotope thermometry. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 25(6), p.e2024GC011516.
• Chen, T.W., Smye, A., Fisher, D., Hashimoto, Y., Raimbourg, H. and Famin, V., 2024. Quantifying interseismic volume strain from chemical mass‐balance analysis in tectonic mélanges. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 25(1), p.e2023GC011241.
• Rioux, M., Garber, J.M., Searle, M., Crowley, J.L., Stevens, S., Schmitz, M., Kylander‐Clark, A., Leal, K., Ambrose, T. and Smye, A.J., 2023. The temporal evolution of subduction initiation in the Samail ophiolite: High‐precision U–Pb zircon petrochronology of the metamorphic sole. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 41(6), pp.817-847.
• Smye, A.J. and England, P.C., 2023. Metamorphism and deformation on subduction interfaces: 2. Petrological and tectonic implications. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24(1), p.e2022GC010645.
• England, P.C. and Smye, A.J., 2023. Metamorphism and deformation on subduction interfaces: 1. Physical framework. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24(1), p.e2022GC010644.
• Fisher, D.M., Hooker, J.N., Smye, A.J. and Chen, T.W., 2021. Insights from the geological record of deformation along the subduction interface at depths of seismogenesis. Geosphere, 17(6), pp.1686-1703.
• Dating continental subduction beneath the Samail Ophiolite: garnet, zircon, and rutile petrochronology of the As Sifah eclogites, NE Oman
• Smye, A.J., Seman, S.M., Scambelluri, M., Starr, P.G. and Federico, L., 2021. Exhumation dynamics of high-pressure metamorphic rocks from the Voltri Unit, Western Alps: Constraints from phengite Rb–Sr geochronology. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 176(2), p.14
• Starr, P.G., Broadwell, K.S., Dragovic, B., Scambelluri, M., Haws, A.A., Caddick, M.J., Smye, A.J. and Baxter, E.F., 2020. The subduction and exhumation history of the Voltri Ophiolite, Italy: Evaluating exhumation mechanisms for high-pressure metamorphic massifs. Lithos, 376, p.105767.
• Fisher, D.M., Smye, A.J., Marone, C., Van Keken, P.E. and Yamaguchi, A., 2019. Kinetic models for healing of the subduction interface based on observations of ancient accretionary complexes. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20(7), pp.3431-3449.
• Smye, A.J., Jackson, C.R., Konrad-Schmolke, M., Hesse, M.A., Parman, S.W., Shuster, D.L. and Ballentine, C.J., 2017. Noble gases recycled into the mantle through cold subduction zones. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 471, pp.65-73.
• Smye, A.J., Greenwood, L.V. and Holland, T.J.B., 2010. Garnet–chloritoid–kyanite assemblages: eclogite facies indicators of subduction constraints in orogenic belts. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 28(7), pp.753-768.

Petrochronology

• Reimink, J.R., Beckman, R., Schoonover, E., Lloyd, M., Garber, J., Davies, J.H., Cerminaro, A., Perrot, M.G. and Smye, A., 2025. Discordance dating: A new approach for dating alteration events. Geochronology, 7(3), pp.369-385.
• Smye, A.J. and Garber, J.M., 2024. Petrochronology: Micron-scale links between mineral dates, P-T conditions, and petrogenesis. In Treatise on Geochemistry, Third Edition, 8 Volume Set (pp. V2-447). Elsevier.
• Roberts, N.M., Drost, K., Horstwood, M.S., Condon, D.J., Chew, D., Drake, H., Milodowski, A.E., McLean, N.M., Smye, A.J., Walker, R.J. and Haslam, R., 2020. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb carbonate geochronology: strategies, progress, and limitations. Geochronology, 2(1), pp.33-61.
• Schoonover, E.J., Ackerson, M.R., Garber, J.M., Smye, A.J., Kylander-Clark, A.R. and Reimink, J.R., 2024. Snapshots of magmatic evolution revealed by zircon depth profiling. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 647, p.118987.
• Lissenberg, C.J., Condon, D.J., Smye, A.J. and Anma, R., 2023. Crystallization of superfast‐spreading oceanic crust (ODP Hole 1256D, Pacific Ocean): constraints from zircon geochronology. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24(10), p.e2023GC010964.
• Garber, J.M., Smye, A.J., Feineman, M.D., Kylander-Clark, A.R. and Matthews, S., 2020. Decoupling of zircon U–Pb and trace-element systematics driven by U diffusion in eclogite-facies zircon (Monviso meta-ophiolite, W. Alps). Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 175(6), p.55.
• Smye, A.J., Marsh, J.H., Vermeesch, P., Garber, J.M. and Stockli, D.F., 2018. Applications and limitations of U-Pb thermochronology to middle and lower crustal thermal histories. Chemical Geology, 494, pp.1-18.
• Marsh, J.H. and Smye, A.J., 2017. U-Pb systematics and trace element characteristics in titanite from a high-pressure mafic granulite. Chemical Geology, 466, pp.403-416.
• Rates of mantle cooling and exhumation during rifting constrained by REE‐in‐pyroxene speedometry
• Smye, A.J. and Stockli, D.F., 2014. Rutile U–Pb age depth profiling: A continuous record of lithospheric thermal evolution. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 408, pp.171-182.
• Smye, A.J., Roberts, N.M., Condon, D.J., Horstwood, M.S. and Parrish, R.R., 2014. Characterising the U–Th–Pb systematics of allanite by ID and LA-ICPMS: Implications for geochronology. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 135, pp.1-28.

Fluid-rock interactions

• Ramirez, G., Smye, A., Fisher, D.M., Hashimoto, Y. and Yamaguchi, A., 2021. Constraints on element mobility during deformation within the seismogenic zone, Shimanto Belt, Japan. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 22(8), p.e2020GC009594.
• Wade, J., Dyck, B., Palin, R.M., Moore, J.D. and Smye, A.J., 2017. The divergent fates of primitive hydrospheric water on Earth and Mars. Nature, 552(7685), pp.391-394.
• Sathaye, K.J., Smye, A.J., Jordan, J.S. and Hesse, M.A., 2016. Noble gases preserve history of retentive continental crust in the Bravo Dome natural CO2 field, New Mexico. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 443, pp.32-40.
• Warren, C.J., Smye, A.J., Kelley, S.P. and Sherlock, S.C., 2012. Using white mica 40Ar/39Ar data as a tracer for fluid flow and permeability under high‐P conditions: Tauern Window, Eastern Alps. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 30(1), pp.63-80.
• Smye, A.J., Warren, C.J. and Bickle, M.J., 2013. The signature of devolatisation: extraneous 40Ar systematics in high-pressure metamorphic rocks. Geochimica et Cosmochimica